S$4,000 fine for woman who abandoned 16 cats at Punggol HDB block
Some of the cats and kittens found abandoned near Sumang Lane in Punggol in 2019, which prompted some online users to spread the word on social media to find homes for them.
SINGAPORE — A 35-year-old pet owner was fined S$4,000 on Wednesday (Feb 17) for instructing a man to help her permanently abandon 16 cats near a Punggol public housing block.
Nur Hajjar Osman, a Singaporean, pleaded guilty to two counts of animal abandonment under the Animals and Birds Act. Fourteen similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.
She was also banned from owning any animal for a year.
The court heard that a member of the public contacted the Agri-Food Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) on March 1 in 2019 to give feedback about the cats, which had been released at 222A Sumang Lane.
The National Parks Board (NParks) took over AVA’s responsibilities for animals in April 2019.
A few days before the call to AVA was made, on Feb 28, Hajjar had enlisted the help of her accomplice Muhammad Haidhar Zulkifli to release her cats because she was unable to take care of them.
After he agreed, he went over to her Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat along Sumang Walk in the wee hours of March 1.
He took the cats away in five cages and loaded them onto a lorry that he had borrowed, before driving around the area.
He eventually decided to release them at the Sumang Lane HDB block and drove away. All the cats were eventually rescued.
NParks’ prosecutor Packer Mohammad sought the fine and ban imposed, saying that Hajjar’s actions were “totally unacceptable” and showed that she had “total disregard” of her duty as a pet owner.
Abandoned pets are unlikely to survive and can be crushed by passing vehicles, he added.
Hajjar, who did not have a lawyer and works part-time, pleaded for a lighter fine.
However, District Judge Teo Guan Kee said that he did not see any reason to depart from the prosecution’s submissions.
Haidhar was also charged and his case is pending. He is further accused of dealing with 10 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes last month at a Jurong West flat.
For each abandonment charge, Hajjar could have been jailed up to a year or fined up to S$10,000 for the first conviction, or received both penalties.
Ms Jessica Kwok, group director of community animal management at the Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS), told TODAY that pet abandonment cannot be condoned.
"Owning a pet is a lifelong commitment and owners must be responsible and provide appropriate care for the animals. AVS will look into all feedback on animal welfare concerns and animal cruelty, including pet abandonment," she said.
